Who Am I?

For today's Wordfull Wednesday we are supposed to describe who we are and even include a picture of ourselves. Visit Chocolate on My Cranium for more Wordfull Wednesday participants.

Cocoa said this would be hard. She was right.

As I started thinking about who I am and what I wanted to write about myself I immediately thought of some of my less desirable characteristics. I am easily distracted, I procrastinate, I'm not very organized. Things like that. I quickly stopped myself. Cocoa also said that we should show our beauty. What is there about me that is beautiful? I had to think.

I am almost 31 and am more comfortable with myself than I think I ever have been. It's a nice feeling to be happy being myself. I'm not always thrilled with myself. Sometimes I do things right and sometimes I don't.

And yet I would not be the person I am now without the person I was last year, or 5 or 10 or 20 years ago. So I am going to share lots of pictures of me. All kinds of different me's that add up to the me I am now.

Me at age 1.

I was the first child born to my wonderful parents. My mom (and my grandma and a couple of aunts) made most of my clothes when I was little. My mom taught me how to sew when I was old enough. I love to sew! I'm still learning a lot, but I very much enjoy it.

I very quickly gained two brothers. This picture was taken the day my brother Sam was blessed. I was 3 and my brother Ben was just about 18 months old. I did finally get two sisters. Heidi is 6 and a half years younger than me. (I remember jumping up and down when I learned I had a sister.) And Dixie is almost 11 years younger than me.

This picture of my family was taken at our family reunion this summer. It was SO wonderful to be with all of them. Oh, I love them!

I was a pretty quiet kid. I sang to myself a lot. And daydreamed a lot. I still do when I have a quiet moment. I also grew up with a large strawberry patch and a few lilac bushes in the yard. Those were some of my favorite places to sit and imagine. Strawberries and lilacs are still two of my very favorite things.

I got to go with my Dad on a trip to Seattle when I was 14. He took this picture of me in our hotel room. We had great conversations on that trip, and a few others I was able to go on with him. I still love talking to my Dad. And I love maps, traveling, and exploring new places.

I graduated from high school in 1997. Though I would never want to go back to high school, it was a great growing experience for me. Right after my freshman year of high school I moved from a small town in Idaho to Denver and a much larger high school. I spent more time with my brothers and came to depend on them quite a bit. I had to really decide what I believed and had to stand up for it. I landed the lead role in the school musical when I was a Jr. and gained a lot of self confidence from that and many other experiences. Now I am able to lead singing time for the Primary kids at church every Sunday and it isn't scary to me. I also met the boy who would one day be my husband. In fact we hung out quite a bit and dated off and on.

This is us when I was a senior and he was getting ready to leave on his mission. (I know it looks like an engagement picture, but it really wasn't.) I didn't tell him that I would wait for him. And I didn't. I wrote him a "Dear John" after he had been gone for 1 year. I did, however, realize my mistake. I broke up with the other guy and wrote back to James a couple of months before he came home. I learned a lot then. I came to appreciate James so much more than I had before. I realized that he really did have the qualities I wanted in a husband. Now I know that he has even more wonderful qualities that I didn't even think about at the time.

This is me as a new mother at age 21. I am so glad I'm not a new mother any more. I'm still learning a lot about being a mom, and there are lots of new things coming. But I do love being a mom. It has taught me and changed me more than any other experience I've had.

This is me reeling in a salmon in Puget Sound this summer. Yes, it was cold that day! James and I went to Whidbey Island for a few days to celebrate our 10th anniversary. As we were talking about what we would like to do on our little getaway James said that he would really like to go salmon fishing. He loves fishing. I don't mind fishing so much, but I am terrified of water and get pretty nervous out in a boat. James asked me if I would be ok with salmon fishing and I told him that "without kids, I can handle it." I really wanted to explore some of the little towns on the island and do some window shopping. James really does not like shopping. I asked if he would be too bored with that. He said, "Without kids, I can handle it."

So we went fishing and I really enjoyed it. I even caught the first fish! I'm learning that some things might not be as scary as I had thought.

And so this is me now at age 30. I wonder who I will be after the next 30 years. I'm excited to find out.